


I could be your morning sunrise

by ChaddicusIX



Series: haircuts [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-11
Updated: 2016-02-11
Packaged: 2018-05-19 16:26:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5974030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaddicusIX/pseuds/ChaddicusIX
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Honey, I’m home,” Natasha calls, when she can only manage to fall against the door shutting behind her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I could be your morning sunrise

**Author's Note:**

> Title from She Keeps Me Warm by Mary Lambert.
> 
> I hope this isn't terribly out of character or anything, frankly I'm very tired and I just finished writing this and decided to post it while I was thinking of it so there's probably a lot more I could do, but w/e. 
> 
> I'm still frustrated with my pacing; it feels like I've got an appropriate amount of time between things when writing it, but then I read it over and it happens so quickly. Oh well.
> 
> I own nothing and make no money, as always. Unbeta'd, mistakes are my own, etcetera.

“Honey, I’m home,” Natasha calls, when she can only manage to fall against the door shutting behind her. Her throat is sore and she should really sit down, but she can only clutch at her shoulder and use the door for support while she catches her breath.

She smiles as she hears Maria moving through her apartment -- their apartment, really, when Natasha doesn’t need to be staying at the facility. The smile pulls at the bandage on her face, though, and turns into a wince just as Maria comes into sight.

“Jesus, Nat,” she breathes, and rushes over. With her help, the couch doesn’t seem quite as far away, and Natasha closes her eyes and slumps down when they get there. “Tell me you didn’t skip going to medical,” Maria says.

“Who do you think wrapped me up?” Natasha asks flippantly, opening her eyes and waving her left arm -- well, just kind of wiggling it sadly, actually, since the burns and the bandages are making things a bit difficult. She meets Maria’s eyes, and the concern she sees there makes something in her chest squeeze. “They said I need to rest, mostly,” she says more seriously. “I told them I’d rather do that at home than in an infirmary.”

Maria raises an eyebrow, but she looks somewhat appeased. “And they just let you walk out on your own, huh?” Her tone is skeptical, but it’s a fair part teasing as well, and when Natasha smiles at her, she smiles back.

“I told them I had someone to take care of me,” Natasha says softly. Maria’s gaze turns warm, and Natasha bites her tongue before she says something without thinking it through.

Maria lifts a hand to Natasha’s head and runs her fingers gently against her scalp. Natasha’s a little too distracted and tired to do much more than lean into it. She’s not sure how much time they spend sitting like that. 

“You’re going to need a haircut,” Maria says eventually. Her fingers are buried in the singed hair just past Natasha’s left temple; it had gotten uncomfortably close, but Natasha’s just glad the burn on her cheek was the worst of it aside from her arm.

“I’ll probably need a little help with that,” she says, and she doesn’t remember having closed her eyes but opening them to see Maria next to her makes something warm fill her chest. Maria’s hand slips from her hair to her cheek, and she pulls Natasha in to kiss her gently.

“Come on,” she says when she pulls away, taking Natasha’s wrist and helping her stand. “You need to rest.”

Natasha doesn’t complain when Maria takes her into the bedroom, gently pushing her to the bed and helping her pull off her clothes. She lays back, and is asleep before Maria joins her.

 

Waking up the next morning is more painful than she’d like it to be, but she’s waking up with Maria for the first time in -- too long, and it’s enough. Maria’s still asleep when Natasha opens her eyes, and and she can feel herself smiling. She reaches her hand out gingerly, brushing the short hair against Maria’s forehead before tracing down her cheek.

Maria shifts, and Natasha only pulls her hand back when Maria opens her eyes and smiles softly. “Hey,” Natasha says softly, and Maria grasps her hand between them.

“I missed you,” she says. “You were gone longer than expected.”

“There were a few complications,” Natasha replies, offering a wry smile. Maria hums, and they lay there a bit longer before Maria shifts and gets up.

Natasha feels less pain as she wakes up a bit more, and by the time they’re in the kitchen eating breakfast, Natasha can lift her arm up high enough to feel her hair. “Any chance we could do the haircut next?” She asks.

Maria directs her to wait in the bathroom. Natasha hefts herself onto the counter beside the sink, and finds herself glancing around the room, noticing the small changes since she was last here. The new toothbrush catches her eye first, followed by the small box tucked against the wall. She feels her brow furrow, but Maria comes back before she can investigate.

Maria steps in close, a pair of scissors in her hand, and Natasha kisses her lightly when she’s close enough. Maria just presses their foreheads together a moment before pulling away and starting to cut. “So should I just trim the burned parts off, or…?”

Natasha thinks for a moment. “Make it symmetrical.” Maria raises her eyebrows at that, and Natasha shrugs. “I’ve been thinking about a new look, and undercuts are very popular right now.” Maria shakes her head slightly, but she sets the scissors down before opening a drawer beneath Natasha’s perch and pulling about a set of clippers.

“How short?” She asks.

The vibrations of the clippers against her scalp are distracting and somewhat soothing, to her surprise. After she shears the sides, Maria sets down the clippers and picks up the scissors, going about evening the hair on the top of Natasha’s head.

“Well, I’m not a hairdresser, but I hope it meets your standards,” Maria says, once she’s set the scissors aside and run her hands through Natasha’s hair a couple times. Natasha only needs a little help getting down from the counter, and she can’t help the delighted grin on her face when she turns and looks at herself in the mirror.

“I love it,” she says, and she does. It isn’t the work of a professional, but the slight choppiness is appealing in its own way, and she runs her hands over the buzzed parts above her ears. She catches Maria’s eyes in the mirror, and smiles brightly before turning around and kissing her.

They stand there for a few moments before Natasha speaks again. “So what’s in the box?”

Maria pauses, doesn’t quite stiffen but stills, before she reaches out and picks up the small box in question. She holds it in front of her, offering it to Natasha. “Open it and see,” She says, and the look on her face is soft and nervous in a way Natasha hasn’t seen on her before, which sends her heart thumping.

She’s half expecting it, but opening the box and seeing the ring inside it still punches the breath from her. Maria has a small smile on her face when Natasha meets her eyes again.

“I was going to plan something appropriately romantic for it, but I was a bit distracted when you didn’t come home on time.” She lifts her free hand and touches Natasha’s neck.

“You’re asking me to marry you?” Natasha breathes, and she sees Maria pause again.

“It doesn’t have to be marriage, if you don’t want it. But we pretty much live together as it is, and I just…” She takes a breath. “I wanted you to know how much you mean to me. How much I love you.”

It’s like lightning hits her when she hears it, and she surges forward and kisses Maria before she’s aware she’s moving. Maria’s hand is trapped between them a bit awkwardly, still holding the box and the ring in it, but she kisses back fiercely.

When they separate, Natasha has to take a few breaths before she can speak. “I love you too,” she says, and she can feel herself mirroring the smile on Maria’s face.

“Is that a yes?” Maria checks.

“I couldn’t possibly imagine saying no to you,” Natasha says, which is more honest than she’s used to being, but she’s been knocked off-balance, and Maria deserves her honesty more than anyone.

She leans in and kisses Maria’s grin as it widens.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm nxtalias on tumblr, feel free to come say hi!


End file.
